Subway Series: Maybe the Mets are legit after all. They need to prove it by sweeping the Yankees.
Mets' A.J. Ewing follows through on his third-inning home run against the Detroit Tigers at Citi Field on Thursday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Mets got our attention back with this week’s sweep of the Tigers, punctuated by Thursday’s 9-4 victory, which featured five home runs — including the first for new Flushing flash A.J. Ewing — and a third straight comeback win.
But now comes the Subway Series, and for Carlos Mendoza & Co.to truly convince us this revival is legit, here’s the assignment.
Broom the Yankees, too.
Not steal one from their crosstown rivals. Or salvage a series win at Citi Field. Those are considered table stakes. These Mets have to think big, and after climbing to seven games below .500 (18-25) for the first time since April 23, there could be some real momentum building — while the opposite is happening lately for the Yankees, who just went 1-5 on the road against the Brewers and Orioles.
The Yankees lost starting shortstop and sparkplug Jose Caballero with a fractured finger, then had Max Fried exit Wednesday’s start because of elbow concerns (the MRI is pending). What had been MLB’s most dangerous offense scored a total of 14 runs on their six-game trip, was shut out twice and batted a collective .168 with a .558 OPS.
We know it sounds crazy. Two weeks ago, this suggestion would be laughable. But the Mets were a Dead Team Walking back then, and those were the pre-Ewing days, before president of baseball operations David Stearns struck gold by mining more of his young talent at Triple-A Syracuse.
The Mets are 3-0 since Ewing’s call-up and he’s reached base safely in seven of his 13 plate appearances (3-for-9, triple, homer, four walks). The team as a whole did just about everything well in roaring back from 2-0 deficits in the first two games and a 3-0 hole Thursday. Nolan McLean — still a rookie himself — shook off Gage Workman’s three-run homer in the first to deliver a solid seven innings (six hits, seven strikeouts), and Ewing, Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, Juan Soto and Marcus Semien went deep.
Also, Mendoza was 3-for-3 in replay challenges, and the really fun part? Hayden Senger’s brilliantly executed safety-squeeze bunt, which was pushed up the first-base line just far enough to get Semien home for a 7-3 lead in the sixth.
“We’ve been through a lot, and it felt like when we were going through that [bad] stretch, every time we got down a couple of runs, it was like the game was over,” Mendoza said. “That was the feeling.
“Now we’re down three in the first inning, and you still feel good. You can sense it in the dugout . . . It’s just good to see the guys fight back. They’re resilient and they’re not going to give up. They’re not going to put their heads down. They’re going to keep going.”
The Mets endured more body blows this week with bleak injury updates regarding Jorge Polanco (Achilles bursitis) and Luis Robert Jr. (back inflammation) — two $20 million starters who won’t be seeing the field again anytime soon. On Thursday, Francisco Alvarez had knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus that will keep him out for eight weeks.
In what passes for positive news, Mendoza said Francisco Lindor’s MRI showed that his calf strain was healing as anticipated, but he wouldn’t give any sort of timetable for a return, other than saying it’s going to be quite a while (figure another six weeks, minimum).
But none of that negatively impacted the Mets taking care of business on the field.
Soto returned to the lineup Thursday after fouling a pitch off his right ankle the previous night. He was removed from that 10-inning victory, but the X-rays were negative, and he chipped in Thursday with a tiebreaking RBI single in the fifth and a leadoff homer in the seventh.
“We’re capable to do whatever we want to do,” Soto said. “At the end of the day, it’s all about us. What we want to do — it’s right in front of us. We just got to go out there and get it.”
After falling to 7-16 with their 12th straight loss, the Mets are 8-4 this month and have outscored opponents 55-37 during that stretch. Their team ERA for May is 2.67, which ranks fifth in the majors.
It’s too bad that McLean didn’t line up for a Friday showdown with fellow young gun Cam Schlittler — McLean’s 64 strikeouts are the fifth most in the majors; Schlittler is tied for seventh at 59 --but the Mets need every win they can scrape together at this point.
“Obviously, we’ve been struggling for a while,” McLean said. “But I wouldn’t say we ever got down on ourselves in here. We know how good our clubhouse is and that’s all that matters — what we think of each other. At the end of the day, we’re not worried about anyone else.”
The Yankees (27-17) are going to be the real litmus test as the first above-.500 team the Mets will face since being swept by the Cubs at Wrigley Field almost a month ago (April 17-19). Their last six opponents had a collective .434 winning percentage, so Mr. Met dancing around Thursday with a broom postgame — dressed as Boba Fett for Star Wars Day — was a little over the top.
Still, it’s undeniable that the Mets are playing more inspired baseball lately, fueled by the youthful energy of Ewing and Carson Benge, who had two more hits Thursday after delivering Wednesday night’s walk-off single. The Subway Series couldn’t be arriving at a more opportune time for the Mets, especially with their ace — former Yankee Clay Holmes — starting Friday’s opener.
“It’s going to be electric,” Mendoza said.
Are the Mets ready to shock the baseball world? The stage is set, and when it comes to the Subway Series, stranger things have happened.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
